beatallica_fan
08-17-2004, 03:52 PM
Now most of us know that much of the blues is based on the pentatonic minor, with the added flattened fifth forming the blues scale. What is less well known is that you can play any note with the blues, any note at all. The pentatonic contains the 1 b3 4 5 and b7, and the b5 if your playing the blues scale, I will show you where and how to use every other note. For all examples I am playing in the key of E with a basic 12 bar blues I7-E7 IV7-A7 V7-B7, so E is the tonic and any interval I name is in relation to E, obviously all these examples will work in any key, the mp3 recordings can be found on my website, click the link in my sig, under blues lesson 1. So first of all the b2.
b2- so in the key of E the b2 is F, not a note you would normally play in an E blues, admittedly I would avoid it over the E7 and A7. But when we get to the B7 wonderful things happens, as I stated earlier the b5 is the blue note, so in E that?s Bb, but lets forget we?re playing in the overall key of E and look at the chord, whats the b5 of B7, why its F. So you can play that b2 over the V7 for a really nice bluesy jazzy feel. Listen to example 1 0:01-0:07, a V7 to IV move, this is pure SRV.
2-F# in this case, this is a great note, it works over all the chords in a 12 bar, over the tonic, I like to give it a quarter tone tweak hinting at the b3, over the IV7 it functions as the 6, so it creates a 13 chord, nice jazzy feel, over the V7 it?s the natural fifth so fits well, wont sound bad but it wont tweak the ear much. Listen to example 2, 0:12-0:21 for its use of the E7 and A7 in two different octaves.
3- G# the b3 gives a minor feel but we are after all playing over an E7 so G# works best over the tonic chord IMO. It is fairly common in blues so im not going to talk about it to much, just play a b3 3 tonic phrase for a nice blues resolution, as at the end of example 3 0:23-0:32..
b6- C another tricky note, sounds bad over the tonic, clashes with the 5th, and the V7, b9 over a straight 7 chord creates a dim chord. Can be used over the IV7 as the b3, handle with care though, listen to example 4, 0:34-0:47, a jazzy phrase over the A7.
6-C# another universal note, will work over any of the chords in a standard 12 bar, as the 2nd over the V7 and the 3rd over the IV7. Listen to example 5, 0:52-1:00 for its use over the first two bars. I used a repeated lick here, only altering one note from G# over the E7 to A over the A7, see if you can notice how the function of the C#, as well as the other notes, changes. Can also be played as a double stop with the b3 for a nice bluesy tri tone.
7-Eb, tricky, over the V7 functions as a simple 3rd, over the IV7 as the bluesy b5, nothing new there, OVER the tonic, it?s a no no, but as a leading tone to the tonic its great, listen to example 6, 1:04-1:14 for a B7 A7 resolving to E7 and how the Eb is a great lead tone to the E7, as the b5 of A7, almost functions as a passing tone but it still sounds sweet.
Obviously in all these examples I?m using notes from all the other examples, as well as the basic blues scale Some might consider a lot of this to just be switching from minor to major pentatonics, view it as you wish. The idea here isn?t for you to copy the licks I played, they aren?t that great and just serve a purpose of how to fit these notes into your playing. As I said this is advice for playing over a basic 12 bar blues, if the idea catches on I will cover licks and notes you can play over more complex chords and progressions. The backing track can be found on my dmusic website, hope you enjoy the lesson and find some useful ideas.
b2- so in the key of E the b2 is F, not a note you would normally play in an E blues, admittedly I would avoid it over the E7 and A7. But when we get to the B7 wonderful things happens, as I stated earlier the b5 is the blue note, so in E that?s Bb, but lets forget we?re playing in the overall key of E and look at the chord, whats the b5 of B7, why its F. So you can play that b2 over the V7 for a really nice bluesy jazzy feel. Listen to example 1 0:01-0:07, a V7 to IV move, this is pure SRV.
2-F# in this case, this is a great note, it works over all the chords in a 12 bar, over the tonic, I like to give it a quarter tone tweak hinting at the b3, over the IV7 it functions as the 6, so it creates a 13 chord, nice jazzy feel, over the V7 it?s the natural fifth so fits well, wont sound bad but it wont tweak the ear much. Listen to example 2, 0:12-0:21 for its use of the E7 and A7 in two different octaves.
3- G# the b3 gives a minor feel but we are after all playing over an E7 so G# works best over the tonic chord IMO. It is fairly common in blues so im not going to talk about it to much, just play a b3 3 tonic phrase for a nice blues resolution, as at the end of example 3 0:23-0:32..
b6- C another tricky note, sounds bad over the tonic, clashes with the 5th, and the V7, b9 over a straight 7 chord creates a dim chord. Can be used over the IV7 as the b3, handle with care though, listen to example 4, 0:34-0:47, a jazzy phrase over the A7.
6-C# another universal note, will work over any of the chords in a standard 12 bar, as the 2nd over the V7 and the 3rd over the IV7. Listen to example 5, 0:52-1:00 for its use over the first two bars. I used a repeated lick here, only altering one note from G# over the E7 to A over the A7, see if you can notice how the function of the C#, as well as the other notes, changes. Can also be played as a double stop with the b3 for a nice bluesy tri tone.
7-Eb, tricky, over the V7 functions as a simple 3rd, over the IV7 as the bluesy b5, nothing new there, OVER the tonic, it?s a no no, but as a leading tone to the tonic its great, listen to example 6, 1:04-1:14 for a B7 A7 resolving to E7 and how the Eb is a great lead tone to the E7, as the b5 of A7, almost functions as a passing tone but it still sounds sweet.
Obviously in all these examples I?m using notes from all the other examples, as well as the basic blues scale Some might consider a lot of this to just be switching from minor to major pentatonics, view it as you wish. The idea here isn?t for you to copy the licks I played, they aren?t that great and just serve a purpose of how to fit these notes into your playing. As I said this is advice for playing over a basic 12 bar blues, if the idea catches on I will cover licks and notes you can play over more complex chords and progressions. The backing track can be found on my dmusic website, hope you enjoy the lesson and find some useful ideas.